Chapter Text
The day is calm but the training is cutthroat as ever. There’s no better day than this. Well, except for the fact that Rooster and Phoenix are wearing matching names- What’s up with that? Turns out I’m the one missing out on all the fun.
“Hey, was Mav the officiant for you two or something?” Great, stupid question. Now Bradshaw is gonna hound your ass for idiocy. Did something happen where your wits and smart-ass took a vacation?
“Uhm, no, what the fuck? If I’m marrying Rooster, I would take his name, no?” Natasha answers with a raised brow and a hand on her hip. Thanks, Nat. I kinda figured that out after blurting it out.
“Yeah, If I’m marrying ‘Nix, I’ll be taking her name, no?” Bradley quips right after, same pose as Natasha, lightening the mood.
“Well, what if you took the officiant’s name?” Hangman raises his arms in defense and backs off. “Weird choice, but still possible.”
“That’s true. But I am not crazy enough to do that.” Natasha says and Bradley points at their name patches, pouted lips and a wink, clearly teasing Jake, mouthing “ she did, though .” Cackling as he gets hit on the back with a slap from Phoenix.
“C’mon man, don’t be bummed out. You’ll find out what happened in due time.” Rooster bumps him on the hip and drags him away to the exit, bringing him to his Bronco. They head out to Penny’s bar and Natasha offers to get their first rounds on her.
“What’s the occasion, ‘Nix?”
“Nothing at all, Hang~ I just thought I’d offer since you got the bill last time. Take it as me, paying you back.” She winks, seeing as they’re approaching the bar, Phoenix leans back and undoes her seatbelt, ready to pounce out for a refreshing beverage for the night.
Bradley follows after and so does Jake. His mind gears whirring and scratching as he’s trying to figure out what the names are for. He then notices the Ninja parked by the door and realizes Maverick is already inside.
MAVERICK!! Right! I can just go over and ask him! Genius idea. Or at least what should’ve been done in the first place.
Hangman runs up and almost shoves himself onto Maverick, who’s busy chatting it up with Penny. Penny flinches back.
“Woah, didn’t know you had a date, Pete.” Penny backs off and tends to the other patrons.
“Why?” Hangman desperately trying to find the two birds who went off to their own little corners. “Why, uh… Phoenix and Rooster?”
“Uh…because yes?” Maverick answers back, not knowing the exact details of Hangman’s question.
“No! I mean, names!”
“They have. They do have names.”
At this point Jake is grasping hair. “I mean why do they have your name!?”
“Woah, calm down. I’ll be here all night, take your time.” Maverick caught a glance of his two adopted children, fingers on their lips, telling him to keep it secret. They are grinning from ear to ear.
Hangman shocks and calms himself, pulls away and gives Maverick some of his space. “So, please, I’ve been wracking my brain over this, it’s tiresome. How did those two—” points at the two bird-guns “receive your name?”
“Adoption.” Is all Mav said.
It is that easy. It’s all just that. Hangman finally realizes it. It never crossed his mind that they are adopted.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” He whispers to himself and leans on the counter. Maverick slides the bottle of beer to him and just pats him on the shoulder.
“You see, it was never my intention to have kids. Kids are a handful. All of you are.” Maverick gestures to the rest of the Top Guns. “But at the end of the day, I do like the feeling of caring for all of you.” He pauses for a while and then sips his beer then back to his monologue. “You know what I almost got in true trouble for?”
“What is it?”
“I argued with Cyclone about the mission once because… well, you know how it is when you’re a part of the Navy. You could lose your life at any time. In a blink of an eye, that could be all of it.” He takes a long pause that actually ends up a hard truth to swallow. “It’s dangerous in this field and I personally know what it’s like to lose someone close to you.” Maverick looks across the bar and looks at Bradley longingly. It wasn’t his fault, but the guilt is still heavy to bear.
“So I said, I’ll bring you all safe and alive. He wanted to argue further but I guess I was very stubborn that I won out in the end.” He chuckles and looks back at Hangman. “You know, kid. I’m really sorry for not picking you for that mission. You are really great, but I needed someone who could work in teams to bring you all back alive. I made a challenge and a promise after all.”
“...okay.” Is all Hangman can muster. It’s true, he is selfish when it comes to the sky. He’s cocky and lets things go over his head. He never cares for what the others are doing or what others are thinking of what he’s doing. He’s a top gun, for fucks sake. And he knows and is proud of it. But Maverick was also right. He could never have brought everyone back if someone started acting selfish in enemy territory.
After the talk, they both decide that enough of the feelings, so Maverick pushes himself off the bar and signals to Penny about his card as he leaves and sits outside by the beach.
Hangman watches as he realizes it all. He had his redemption arc but it’s still long until he can keep the habit of being selfless. He looks up and sees Phoenix and Rooster fighting over the wins on the billiard table. They see him and they beckon him over.
“So did you find out?”Phoenix lines up the cue and goes for the last ball on the table.
“Seemed like a hard talk.” Rooster follows up, sees that Phoenix stealthily puts a random ball into the hole with her hand and starts yapping again. “Hey, that’s not fair. I saw that. You’re disqualified now.”
“Nah you’re talking crazy…” The sounds muffle out as he watches the domestic bliss happening in front of him. Family huh… selflessness… I don’t know… I’ve never really known it.
Hangman finishes up his bottle and places it on the table edge. He leaves the two bickering and heads out to where Maverick is. It seems that he’s made up his mind too.